Pick Me Up
by Emri
Summary: Oneshot. In an attempt to prove to Puck and Finn that her nerdy pick-up lines work, Quinn delivers them to some of the population of McKinley High with mixed results. But will her lines work on the one girl that actually matters? Nerd!Quinn.


With a confidence that would prove to be his downfall Finn Hudson attempted to swagger as he made his way over to a cute freshman cheerio who was busily pouring over something in her locker. He tried his best to ignore his two best friends behind him, one of whom was whispering encouragement and the other of which was trying not to laugh.

He smoothed out his eyebrows as he approached because lets face it, that is exactly the thing a girl looks for in a guy...neat eyebrows. When he was confident with his appearance and was close enough, he politely coughed to get the girl's attention. The hallway was crowded at the start of lunch and so the girl didn't hear him but carried on applying lip gloss in a small mirror in her locker.

Finn turned around to face Puck and Quinn in the hopes that they would tell him what to do however at the confused look on his face Quinn was no longer able to contain her laughter and even Puck chuckled a little.

The pout had barely formed on his face before Puck decided to help and signalled for him to tap the girl on the shoulder to get her attention. Finn smiled his thanks and tapped the girl, except he underestimated his own strength and he ended up pushing the girl face first into her own locker and caused her to smear her lip gloss up her face.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry...here let me help you." Finn apologised profusely as he tried to help the girl up but she was having none of it.

"You moron!" The girl screamed as she looked with horror at her smeared face in the mirror then quickly turned and stomped on his foot before storming off with a huff to fix her make up in the bathroom.

Finn was clutching his foot and leaning against the lockers when his best friends reached him and Puck admitted, "I don't think even my wisdom can get you a girl now bro." He patted the taller boy on the back but it didn't soothe him.

"Yeah man you just don't have the way with the ladies that Puck and I do." Quinn added with a sympathetic smile as she pushed her glasses back up her nose.

Finn snorted and even Puck chuckled a little at the blonde haired girl's words.

"You are as bad with the ladies as I am Q." Finn said as he tenderly put weight on his foot again and was pleased to find that it didn't hurt too badly. The three of them started to walk to the cafeteria as they had already wasted 10 minutes of lunch on Finn's failed attempt and they were getting hungry.

"What are you talking about, I've got the nerdy hot thing going on that girls love." Quinn defended as they pushed their way into the crowded lunch room and lined up to get some food.

"Even if that's true Q, have you ever had a girlfriend? You ever even kissed a girl?" Puck asked as they got to the front of the line and loaded five slices of pizza onto a tray.

At this point Quinn was blushing the same bright red colour as her suspenders and Finn was paying no attention to them as he became absorbed in choosing food. Quinn knew that Puck wasn't trying to be mean, she could see the calculating look on his face and knew that he was getting the idea to help Quinn get a girl the same way he had been trying to help Finn.

"I um...no I haven't had a... girlfriend." Quinn admitted quietly as she and Puck started walking to their table. "But I did kiss a girl once." Their was a little pride in her voice at that and the two of them stopped in the middle of the crowded room and Puck slapped her on the shoulder in congratulations.

"Dude that's awesome, why didn't you tell me?" He asked as they started walking.

"It was a game of spin the bottle." Quinn added as they sat down and Puck scoffed at not getting the juicy information he was desiring. In his mind 'spin the bottle' kisses didn't count.

"Where have you guys been?" Rachel asked curiously, turning from a conversation with Kurt and Mercedes and giving Quinn a shy smile when the two sat down.

"We were just watching Finn strike out with a random cheerleader." Puck answered with a smile

"Hey I didn't strike out!" Finn protested as he got to the table a few seconds after them and took the seat next to Quinn.

"You pushed her into a locker." Quinn stated.

Finn tried to save himself a little by saying, "Like you could do any better Q." Puck looked delighted with the way the conversation had turned whilst everyone turned to look at Quinn and the blonde in question blushed.

"I'll have you know my dear friend that I am far smoother with the ladies than you are." Quinn stated with confidence.

At this point Puck decided to insert himself into the conversation because he was still thinking of ways that he could get Quinn a girlfriend or at least a real kiss. He knew Quinn would never take his advice and so blatantly try to flirt unless she was challenged and so with that in mind he said, "I don't know Q all you have are those pick-up lines. Girls don't respond to nerdy stuff." He went back to his food and waited for Quinn to take the bait.

"Hey girls love those pick-up lines...I would imagine and besides I have the nerdy hot thing going on." Quinn repeated her earlier words in protest and was so focused on Puck that she didn't notice Rachel start to nod along with her words until the brunette stopped herself.

"Seeing is believing Q." Puck said trying to contain his smile. He was so awesome at this. He could already see Quinn started looking around for potential people to try to flirt with. If she flirted with enough people she was sure to get a date with someone.

A few moments after the challenge had been issued Brittany and Santana walked over to the table with a shared tray between them and Quinn automatically stared at them. Quickly weighing up her options Quinn decided that Brittany was probably her better option and so when the taller blonde took a seat next to Rachel, Quinn leaned over to talk to her.

Quinn briefly registered a weird look on Rachel's face before she said to Brittany, "If I were an enzyme I would be DNA Helicase so that I could unzip your genes."

Santana looked murderous as she had clearly understood what Quinn had said and that it was a pick-up line whereas Brittany just looked confused.

"DNA is tiny Quinn and your full sized so that's ridiculous." Brittany responded and Quinn found that its nerd side reared its ugly head as she felt a compulsion to explain what she had said.

"No you see its a pick-up line Britt and it plays on the fact that the word genes is a homophone that..." Quinn started to explain but Brittany cut her off with a stern look.

"Homophonia is wrong Quinn." At this point most of the table were chuckling, whereas Santana was looking murderous. If Quinn had been paying attention to the Latina rather then trying to explain things to Brittany then she might have had time to save herself.

"No Britt I said homophone not homophobe, the difference is..." Brittany had no further chance to be educated by Quinn as Santana had thrown herself across the table and tackled the blonde to floor.

"Stop hitting on my girl Fabray!" Santana shouted into Quinn's face before drawing her fist back ready to punch the girl beneath her.

"Holy crap!" Puck shouted as he made it over to the girls in record time and quick enough to stop Santana's fist. In the Latina's distraction, Quinn was able to slip out from under Santana and made a run for the doors. Puck tried to grab for Santana but she easily slipped out of his grasp and ran off after Quinn.

"We have to go after them to make sure that Quinn doesn't get hurt." Rachel stated already getting up. Finn, Puck and Brittany followed after her and it wasn't hard to follow the wake of their destruction. Students had been pushed out of the way, papers scattered everywhere and it looked similar to the path of devastation that Sue often left when she was on a rampage.

When they found the two girls they were outside a little way away from the football field with Quinn clinging onto the branches of a tree for dear life whilst Santana made efforts to climb up after her. It clearly wasn't go well for the Latina as there were already multiple scuff marks on her uniform from previous failed attempts. It was obvious that she had made some progress however as Quinn was missing one shoe and her superman sock was on display for all to see.

"Santana, she didn't mean it." Rachel shouted whilst they were still 50 metres away and Santana turned to look at the approaching party.

"She didn't mean to hit on my girlfriend with that incredibly dorky pick-up line?" Santana asked disbelievingly.

"Puck said my lines didn't work and so I wanted to test one on someone I knew wouldn't make fun of me." Quinn called down from the tree.

"Oh that's really sweet, I would love to be the one you use your lines on because I would totally never be mean to you." Brittany admitted happily with a bounce in her step as she gestured for Quinn to come down from the tree.

Quinn cast a glance at Santana before she did though to ensure that she would be safe on the ground. The brunette nodded slightly, showing that she accepted that Quinn meant no harm and when Quinn was firmly back on the ground she said amicably, "I never knew you could climb so well Q."

"I'm like a ninja squirrel." Quinn replied with a laugh and Finn high-fived her because he thought that a ninja squirrel was an awesome idea for a cartoon character. Quinn then wandered over to a nearby bush, plucked her shoe out of its depths and put it back on as Santana shot her a slightly apologetic look.

"That's not a very good line Quinn." Brittany stated honestly already getting into her role of judge as she rated the, 'ninja squirrel' line.

"OK how about, if you wanted to get on top of me S, all you had to do was ask." Quinn said with a cocky wink at the brunette in question, referring to when Santana had jumped on her in the cafeteria.

Santana scoffed but her dark complexion darkened even further in a blush as she turned to Brittany and hurried them both off.

"Good start Q but you haven't proved that your nerdy lines work yet. We need to go and find you another hot girl to try them on." Puck said as he wrapped an arm around Quinn's shoulders. When he said the words 'hot girl' Quinn's eyes automatically darted over to look at Rachel. She hadn't meant to do it but Rachel was Quinn's definition of the words hot girl, not that the blonde would ever have the courage to tell the tiny brunette that.

In theory it should have been no problem for Quinn to ask Rachel out. They were both gay, they were both losers so no social barriers to cross but Quinn was sure that Rachel wasn't interested in her that way and she didn't want to lose one of her best friends.

Before Quinn could say anything, Puck was already leading her back into the school and Rachel and Finn trailed behind them. Once they were stood in the main hallway, Puck faced her at a cute senior cheerleader and shoved her towards the taller girl.

He could admit that he probably pushed too hard in his excitement as Quinn ended up face planting a locker and then falling to her knees before the cheerleader clutching her nose and wondering if her glasses had been damaged.

"No need to bow peasant." The girl mocked as she folded her arms and waited for Quinn to say something.

"Baby I'll treat you like my homework- I'll slam you on the table and do you all night long." Quinn spoke up to the girl with a slightly muffled voice due to the fact that her hands were still covering the lower half of her face.

The smirk dropped off her face replaced by a look of shock before the girl just sneered and walked away without another word.

Finn was the first to walk over and help her to her feet and checked her nose for her. "I think you're good man. What do you think Rach, you're good with the smart stuff?"

Rachel gulped and moved forward to check Quinn's nose and delighted in the way the blonde's eyes closed when Rachel cupped her cheek to hold her head still. After staring at Quinn's lips for a few moments and feeling the distinct movement of Quinn nuzzling into her hand Rachel needed to move away before she did something she would regret.

"All clear Quinnie." Rachel whispered as she stepped back and noted how much more intimate the nickname sounded when she said it in that tone.

"Thanks Rae." Quinn replied only just opening her eyes as the contact with Rachel was taken away and she cursed herself for being so obvious.

"If you get a black eye of something from that it would totally make chicks flock to you." Puck mentioned, completely destroying the moment in the process.

"Yeah maybe." Quinn said, still looking at Rachel however the smaller girl had looked away.

"I think what you did wrong was you chose her a senior Puck. We should find her a freshman." Finn stated with a proud smile that clearly showed that he thought himself a genius for that notion.

"Well we better hurry up because lunch is nearly over." Rachel stated authoritatively. Personally she hoped that lunch would end before they found another girl for Quinn to hit on because Rachel knew it was only a matter of time until a girl said yes. She couldn't believe that cheerleader hadn't been interested because Rachel thought that Quinn was gorgeous and those pick-up lines just made her incredibly adorable.

"OK, what's your type Quinn?" Puck asked and Quinn raised a questioning eyebrow and so he elaborated, "There is no point getting you a date with someone your not attracted to."

"Oh well...uh..." Quinn didn't want to lie so she just tried very hard not to look at Rachel as she pretty much just described the other girl. "Brunette and uh...short and a little bit tan." Quinn stopped herself because Puck looked like he was catching on as he shot a look at Rachel but neither Jew said anything. Finn just started looking around the hall for anyone who matched Quinn's description.

Finn suddenly seemed to see Rachel and appeared to get a brain wave as he said, "Hey what about Ra..."

He was cut off by a panicked Quinn who quickly pointed to a random brunette who just happened to be walking down the hallway, "Her, look over there!" It was kind of pathetic but it distracted Finn enough that he forgot his previous brilliant idea in regards to Rachel.

Taking the initiative Quinn strode over to the girl and stopped her with a simple, "Hi." The girl looked like a deer in headlights but Quinn smiled at her and she seemed to calm down a little bit.

"Hello." She whispered back only making occasional eye contact probably due to nerves as the girl seemed very shy.

"My name's Quinn." Quinn introduced herself and offered the brunette her hand to shake.

"Marley." The girl said quietly as she shook Quinn's hand.

"Well Marley I was wondering if you could do me a favour?" Marley's eyes widened in an adorable way and Quinn continued, "I lost my number so I was wondering if I could have yours?"

The girl immediately caught on and smiled shyly as she pulled a pen out of her bag and proceeded to write her number on Quinn's arm. Her hand lingered slightly after she had finished writing and then as she walked away casting glances back at the blonde every few steps.

Once Marley was out of sight, Puck, Finn and Rachel came over to Quinn and Puck had honest disbelief on his face when he asked, "No way did you just get her number with one of your nerdy lines."

"Well technically it wasn't one of my nerdy lines it was a regular one so..." Quinn trailed off.

"Dude that doesn't count, the challenge was to pick up a girl using your 'nerdy hotness'." Puck automatically dismissed her success and Quinn could admit that it was only fair. Besides she didn't like how Rachel was shooting glares at her arm and so Quinn was willing to forget about getting the girl's number. She rolled down the sleeves of her button up shirt and when the black ink was out of sight Rachel seemed to go back to normal which Quinn was grateful for.

Puck realised that Quinn had already acquired a date which fulfilled his plan but he wanted her to be more confident around girls as well which was why he wanted her to keep going.

They spent the last five minutes of lunch appraising the girls that walked past. Most were vetoed for different reasons such as 'too scary', 'too obviously straight' and the one which Rachel came out with which was 'not good enough for Quinn'.

Though Quinn had no success by the time she went to her next class she was still smiling because of what Rachel had said. Quinn, Rachel and Brittany shared their Spanish lesson after lunch and as Schue was always late they were able to have a conversation before the teacher came.

"How are you doing picking up a girl Q?" Brittany asked cheerfully.

"I've only been rejected once since you left Britt. Another girl I picked up with a normal line so it didn't count." Quinn answered looking across Rachel to their cheerleader friend.

"That's awesome Quinn, you just need to keep going. Why don't you send a note to someone with a line on it." Brittany suggested, showing how interested she was in Quinn's challenge.

"Brittany there are no eligible girls in this class." Rachel tried to stop the blonde's attempts.

"Sure there are Rach, I can see at least two." Brittany pointed to Mack first who was sat across the aisle from Quinn and then pointed at Rachel who spluttered at what the blonde implied. Rachel was glad however that Quinn was still looking over at Mack with a bewildered expression and when she did turn back, Brittany had stopped pointing and Rachel had calmed down.

"Isn't she a Skank? We came up with a rule that I don't have to ask out scary people." Quinn protested as Mr Schue came in with cookie crumbs on his butt chin.

"Just write her a note, I'll protect you." Brittany promised in a whisper and with a smile that could make your bones melt. It made Quinn agree before she even realised that she had.

Trying to use the least offensive pick-up line she had, she scribbled some words down on a scrap piece of paper with an overly interested Rachel glancing at her every few seconds then covertly tossed it onto Mack's desk.

The girl picked it up and read in Quinn's untidy scrawl:

_Hey I'm writing a new make out programme and I was wondering if you would like to join the beta test?_

The three girls watched on nervously as Mack took a few seconds to write back then balled it up and threw it at Quinn's head.

It bounced harmlessly off Quinn and into Rachel's lap and as she was sat in the middle she opened it up so all three girls could read it at the same time.

_Four o'clock, under the bleachers. I'll give you all the help you need._

Quinn's panicked eyes automatically swivelled to Mack's and the girl winked at her then went back to carving her name into the desk discretely with a small pocket knife. They didn't say anything to each other for the rest of the lesson but when they finally made it outside they stopped and looked at each other. Well Rachel was finding it hard to look at Quinn as a rush of jealousy had hit her when Mack agreed to do...things with Quinn.

"Guys I'm scared." Quinn started and Rachel suddenly looked up at her in shock. She had assumed that Quinn would be excited at her prospects. "If we don't tell Puck about this can it not count and we'll carry on because I'm really kind of afraid she would stab me if we were alone under the bleachers together."

"Its OK Quinn you don't have to if you don't want to." Brittany replied kindly and received a grateful smile in return.

* * *

Quinn decided that she wanted to take a break from using her pick-up lines and so she didn't end up pulling them out until after school when she was sitting in the gym waiting for Puck and Finn's basketball practice to finish. They were going to go and get pizza afterwards in their usual post practice ritual and so Quinn would usually do some homework while she waited but today had the added privilege of having the cheerleaders practise indoors as well.

Quinn was determined for this challenge to be over with soon. She didn't want to date or kiss any of the girls that she was chatting up (or attempting to anyway) she only wanted to date and kiss Rachel. The sooner she got Puck off her back the sooner she could get back to thinking of ways to spend more time with Rachel. Maybe then she would be able to work up the courage to ask her out even with the huge possibility of being rejecting and losing Rachel forever.

That was why she was the first to notice when a cheerleader kept glancing her way. In what was probably a risky move she decided to pull out what she sometimes thought of as her creepiest pick-up line only because it involved staring at a girl for a good few minutes before they came over. That was usually because they thought the staring person was weird.

True to form, after a few minutes of staring which Quinn tried to pull off as a smouldering gaze, the cheerleader in question came over to her when Sue left to get a new and fully charged bullhorn.

"Why are you staring at me?" The girl asked in a stern voice but not one that was totally displeased that she was the object of Quinn's attention. Quinn caught a glimpse of Brittany giving her a big thumbs up behind the cheerleaders back before Quinn delivered her line.

"Its just, I can't be sure but I think you must be undergoing an exothermic reaction because you are spreading your hotness everywhere." Quinn said in a genuine voice as the line demanded.

The girl giggled a little at the weird line and then Sue came back causing the girl to run back to the others but not before she said, "That was a little lame you know?" Quinn wasn't offended however as the girl said it with a smile and continued to glance over at Quinn for the remainder of practice.

Unfortunately for Quinn the cheerleaders practised much longer hours than the basketball team (hence why they were national champions and the basketball team won one game last season and only by forfeit) and so Quinn had to leave before she got a chance to talk to the cheerleader.

"Bro you were so close to getting some digits from that chick. Had any luck with any other girls yet?" Puck asked as he, Quinn and Finn squashed into the front seat of his truck.

"No nothing yet." Quinn responded, conveniently forgetting about Mack's proposal as they drove towards the pizza place.

"Maybe you should use your image a bit more. I mean, girls always like the bed head look on me." Finn suggested. They argued the merits of the idea until they got to the pizza place and suddenly Finn just reached out and messed up Quinn's hair.

She was kind of mad until she looked in the mirror of Puck's truck and realised it did kind of make her look hotter and she was determined to get this challenge over and done with.

When they got inside it was pretty quiet and so they easily noticed Rachel, Mercedes and Kurt sat together and went over to sit with them. It was a bit of a squash but Quinn didn't care so much because she was sat next to Rachel and could feel their thighs and arms mashed together. She had also liked how Rachel had froze when she saw Quinn's hair and could only hope that the reaction was a good thing.

"How's it going on the pick up lines Quinn?" Kurt asked with interest after the three newcomers had placed their orders.

"Uh...I don't really think anyone's interested yet but I have no fear, this challenge was only about proving the lines work and not really about getting a date." Quinn said with a confident smile that was partly brought on by the fact that Rachel was playing with Quinn's suspender clips without even realising it.

"Q check it out at like 3 o'clock there's a hot chick." Finn pointed out but when everyone looked in the desired direction there was just an empty booth.

"What are you talking about Finn?" Quinn asked with confusion.

"I mean over there." Finn actually resorted to pointing in what would have been the 6 o'clock direction. "Its three o'clock because its in front of me but only when I'm facing left." Finn tried to explain further but it confused everyone more so instead they just looked at the girl.

It was a blonde cheerleader with a couple of other cheerleaders clearly breaking their Sue Sylvester diet and looking extremely nervous about it. She looked younger than them and seeing as she was in a group with only two others Quinn decided to go for it.

Clearing her throat, Quinn stood up and made her way over to the three girls knowing that all of her friends were watching and would probably be able to hear everything she was going to say. Three extra sets of eyes rounded on her when she got close enough to the table and she leaned on it facing the blonde girl whilst she said, "I wish we were in Telophase and then I could admire your cleavage."

If Quinn was being honest she used one of her crudest lines because she really didn't want this to work out. When she had been sitting so close to Rachel she had decided that she didn't care about the challenge any more. All she cared about was Rachel and hitting on people all day had given her the courage she needed to ask out the only person who actually mattered. When this girl slapped her or sent her away with a couple of insults then Quinn was planning on admitting that she failed and giving up the whole charade so that she could focus on Rachel.

What she wasn't expecting was for the girl to give her a once over then send her a sultry smirk and pull her down into the seat next to her.

"Kitty, what are you doing?" One of the blonde's friends asked and Kitty just sent them a deathly glare that shut them both up. With her friends taken care of Kitty wrapped an arm around Quinn's front so that her hand was resting on the taller girl's shoulder and whispered in her ear, "Maybe you can follow me out to my car and you can admire it all you want." When she finished her offer she started sucking on Quinn's ear and that was about all the nerdy girl could take.

Quinn jumped up from her seat, shouted, "I'm sorry!" and then ran back to her friends.

She didn't notice the glare that Kitty was throwing at her, her attention instead being completely diverted to the fact that Rachel wasn't there any more.

"What the hell happened Q? It looked like everything was going great?" Finn asked, shivering a little at the intensity of the look being aimed at his blonde best friend by an angry cheerleader.

Quinn ignored his questions because she had more important things on her mind and so asked, "Where's Rachel?"

Puck, Mercedes and Kurt seemed to get a knowing look in their eyes and Puck was the one to speak up and say, "She went home."

Quinn deflated and he added, "You've got to go after her Q." His words spurred her on and Puck threw her the keys to his truck as she ran out of the pizza place.

"What just happened?" Finn asked as Quinn sped out of the parking lot and he received three sets of pitying looks in response.

* * *

When Quinn pulled up outside of the Berry residence she wasn't quite sure what she was planning to do but she knew that she had to end this day by letting Rachel know that she was the only girl that mattered to her. There was no time like the present to let the small brunette know how she felt.

Mustering up all of her courage she trekked up onto the porch and knocked the door and then spent a few anxious seconds wondering if she should just run away. When Rachel answered the door however all of Quinn's anxiety disappeared as she found herself actually being drawn toward the door rather than away from it.

"Rae, what happened tonight, why did you leave so suddenly?" Quinn asked with real concern evident in her voice. Rachel contemplated lying for a few moments but with a long sigh she decided to come clean instead.

"Why did you never try to use them on me? The pick-up lines. I was with you all day, you even said that you like small, tan brunettes and yet you never gave me a second glance. Am I really not even an option for you?" Rachel said with heartbreak evident on her face. She was bearing all now.

"Rae, you are my top and only option. That girl in the pizza place, I used my worst line on her so that I could come back and say that I failed and then I could think of ways to ask you out." Quinn looked down thoughtfully for a moment and then added, "I would never want to use a pick up line on you."

At the start, Rachel's smile began to build but with the final sentence the brunette looked even more heartbroken. Tears began to pool in the corners of her eyes and Quinn hurried to make Rachel understand. She reached forward and grabbed both of Rachel's hands in hers as she explained, "What I meant was that you are too special to use any of that crap on. When I asked you out I was planning to tell you how special you are to me. How beautiful you are and that every time I look at you I get tunnel vision because you are the only one I ever see. You are perfect in my eyes and I just never thought that someone as amazing as you would want to be with someone like me."

"You planned on asking me out?" Rachel asked quietly, the tears quickly drying in her eyes but they still shone, only for a different reason now.

"Since the first day of freshman year. I could just never seem to pluck up the courage." Quinn admitted looking down in embarrassment.

"Ask me." Rachel demanded in a steady voice which caused Quinn to look up with wide eyes. The determination in Rachel's voice stoked a fire within Quinn and she felt a desire to make this moment as romantic and memorable as possible for the girl she loved.

With that in mind she knelt down on one knee on the Berry's front porch and cleared her throat before asking, "Rachel Barbara Berry would you do me the honour of accompanying me on a date on Friday night to a place that I guarantee is not Breadsticks or the pizza place we were just at."

"Well how can I say no to that?" Rachel asked rhetorically and then said, "I would love to." Quinn got to her feet with a huge grin and pulled Rachel in for a hug that was far too long to be shared between friends but was now perfectly acceptable between the two.

"Rae" Quinn mumbled quietly into Rachel's shoulder after many minutes of just holding each other..

"Yeah." Rachel pulled her face away to respond but kept their bodies attached.

"I am so attracted to you that scientists are going to have to develop a fifth fundamental force."

"You just had to get in one last line didn't you?" Rachel asked with amusement as Quinn just smirked back in triumph.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed it and please review...**


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